Chink
by Chakahlah
Summary: The soft chinking sound turns out to be a locket and ring hitting together when Muldoon walks


Title: Chink

Author: Chakahlah

Warnings: Mentions of M/M relationships, some homophobic slurs

Series: Harry Potter/Robert Muldoon one-shot prompts

Summary: The soft noise that is driving Nedry insane turns out to be a ring and locket hitting each other as Muldoon walks around.

Chink

Dennis Nedry frowned as he looked around the room. For the last few weeks, when the work room was silent except for the sound of him opening another can of soda, he had been hearing the soft CHINK of metal hitting metal. It was starting to annoy him. When he bought it up with those in the vicinity of his work desk, they looked at him as though he were insane: some going so far as to deny hearing anything out of the ordinary.

"What in the blazes is wrong with you lately?" one of the animal specialists hired by Hammond asked in frustration.

Nedry ignored him and turned back to his computer once the sound stopped.

The man watched him with irritation at being ignored before snorting in derision.

"Don't worry about him," his supervisor, Robert Muldoon, stated as he guided him away from the irritating man. "he's about as ornery as a wounded rhino on a good day and as self-absorbed as any politician."

Nedry turned to glare at the man and as he opened his mouth to respond, Hammond himself walked into the room.

"Ah, Robert!" he announced in his usual, jovial manner, "Just the man I wanted to see. We have a new young man on staff and I was hoping you could be his mentor."

"Why me?" Robert asked, honestly curious. "Why not Ray, Gerry or Wu?"

As the last name left his mouth, he, and many of the others in the room, grimaced, while Hammond raised an eyebrow.

"I know, I know," Muldoon scowled, "but why me specifically?"

Hammond sighed.

"The young man is a good worker," he stated with complete seriousness. But he is more of a manual worker than an office worker, which rules out Ray and Gerry is a veterinarian."

Muldoon rubbed his eyes and sighed.

"Robert, please," Hammond urged, lowering his voice and pulling the younger man away from those listening in. "He lost his old job because his boss discovered he had a life partner he couldn't marry."

"I am not working with a pillow-biting, fudge-packing fairy!" Nedry yelled out, making everyone wince.

It seemed that the other man had followed them to listen into what they were discussing.

"Seems we can add as arrogant as a large business CEO and as nosy as a reporter," Muldoon hissed through clenched teeth before turning to stare the arsehole down, ignoring the muttering from those around him.

"You won't be working with him," Muldoon stated, cutting Hammond off mid-word, "I will be."

Muldoon looked at Hammond, who had gone silent.

"Where is the young man?"

"Right here," a deep voice stated from the area of the door.

A strangled gargle from Nedry announced the fact that he had turned to give the man a talking too, only to discover who he had badmouthed. Turning, Muldoon did everything he could to keep the smirk off his face, because the man was an attractive shade somewhere between nut brown and black in colouring, looked tall enough to look down on a velociraptor and seemed so broad it was a miracle he managed to walk through the door without turning to his side.

Muldoon walked up to the man and put his hand out.

"Robert Muldoon," he introduced himself. "Animal wrangler slash game warden."

The other man chuckled and took the hand in a firm handshake.

"Name's Henrik, but folks call me Bubba."

"You know how to handle a gun, Bubba?" Muldoon asked, just knowing he would get along well with this new co-worker.

When Bubba shook his head in the negative, Muldoon raised an eyebrow and gave a half-smirk. "Want to learn?"

The enthusiasm Bubba used to nod his head made Muldoon chuckle.

"I have a feeling you will fit right in with us," he managed to get out between his mirth, "and don't worry about anyone giving you hell for your choice in partner. As far as we are concerned, if you do your job well, you could share your bed with anything you want and it isn't our business."

The slight tension that was in Bubba's shoulders relaxed at Muldoon's words.

"Do you have a picture of your man?" Muldoon asked. Upon seeing the shock on the taller man's face, he continued. "We have a dangerous job. We handle the transportation of the animals in the park so we all form strong bonds with each other. Our lives depend on each other at some points so if you want to share time talking about your loved ones, we will listen and share our own."

Bubba grinned and dug out his wallet from his pocket and removed a photo of himself and a smaller man with deep caramel skin. Muldoon took it when it was offered to him and let out a low whistle of appreciation.

"You got yourself a looker there, Mate," he grinned as he gave it back and ushered the other man out the door, pulling a thick chain from beneath his shirt to reveal a locket and ring. He opened the locket to reveal a picture of him and a short man with black hair and bright green eyes on one side, and a photo of the same man holding a beaming toddler.

"That," Muldoon smiled, "is my life partner, Harry, and one of his godchildren, Theodore 'Teddy' Lupin. We've been together since he was sixteen. I'm five years older and met him when I went to pick my younger half-brother up from the train back from boarding school. My brother was – and still is – an arsehole. I got there in time to see him target Harry and two of his friends … and then see him go flying when Harry tossed him over his shoulder when he felt someone grab his bag."

Bubba grinned at Muldoon, much more relaxed now that he knew he truly would be welcomed at this new workplace and, if Muldoon's smirk got an evil edge to it when he made sure to hold a device that intensified sound up to the locket as he dropped it in such a way that the sound echoed and Nedry yelled out in frustration at it … well … They were a band of brothers so there was no one to report it.


End file.
